One Health experts want governments and agencies to create integrated surveillance systems that link community-level data across human, animal, plant and environmental sectors. They argue such systems are essential for early detection and response to health threats that cross species and ecosystems.
The recommendation came during a virtual roundtable on Thursday (12 December), organised by SciDev.Net and CABI. The discussion highlighted the One Health Horizon Scanning report, led by the One Health Hub through the Juno Evidence Alliance. The exercise identified five research priority areas and ranked integrated surveillance as the most urgent.
Panel speakers noted that many countries already collect large volumes of health data, but these data are often siloed, uneven and weakly linked to decision-making. They said surveillance must be operational and focused on decisions, and must work at community level because outbreaks often start there. Experts also urged inclusion of ecological and agricultural drivers, citing evidence of declining pollinators and harms from increased pesticide and fertiliser use.
The speakers called for more investment in systems that span sectors, countries and regions so data lead to faster, coordinated responses.
Difficult words
- surveillance — systematic collection of health information
- integrated — joined or connected across different parts
- sector — one part of economy or public servicessectors
- detection — finding a disease or problem early
- response — actions taken to deal with a threat
- ecosystem — all living and non-living things interactingecosystems
- pollinator — an animal that helps plants make seedspollinators
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Discussion questions
- How could local communities help improve integrated surveillance systems in your country or area?
- What benefits might come from linking ecological and agricultural data with human health data?
- What challenges do you think governments will face when trying to connect data across different sectors and regions?
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